Ralph Vaughan Williams: Essential Works for Beginners 

Thank you, Dave, for your continued advocacy of RVW, and for treating him like he deserves to be: One of the major voices of the 20th Century, not some provincial kleinmeister. I was first exposed to RVW when I was 14, when I checked out a disc from my local library, simply because I liked the cover: the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben set against a bright, light-blue background. It was the CD issue of Boult's EMI recordings of A London Symphony and the Tallis Fantasia. I was immediately hooked, and RVW has been my favorite composer since that day. I'm almost 50 now - he's been my very favorite composer, uninterrupted, for over 35 years. Yikes. Excellent list. Mine would be only slightly different. Anyone remotely interested in this composer will find hours of pure joy from these seven work.

I'm British (and happen to live in Norfolk) and have long loved the music of RVW. English folk music is also a passion of mine, as it was for RVW, who was the patron the English Folk Song and Dance Society. RVW incorporated many wonderful tunes into his compositions, including Dives and Lazarus, Greensleeves, and other in The English Folk Song suite. I agree with your point, Dave, that RVW;'s music is ignored in the concert programme, which is a great shame. While I'm here I want to add that The Sea Symphony is a firm favourite.

Vaughan Williams, a lifelong cat lover, would have appreciated both your video and Mildred's inclusion in it. A great composer, described by one of his pupils as "the single most decent human being I ever knew." Difficult for me to choose between Symphonies 3 or 6 as my favorite, but I adore them all...and I'm delighted that you have singled out "Job" as the masterpiece it is.

A great selection, Dave. For years I harboured a deep prejudice against "British" music, probably because of my revulsion at the waves of parochialism that periodically afflicts this country. I boycotted records & concerts where Elgar, RVW, Walton etc featured. How mad I was! Now I have started growing up (I'm only 65) I'm listening anew to this marvellous repertoire, not least the fantastic symphonies, occasional & choral music of RVW!

I just ADORE Vaughn Williams...your choices are on point!!! Greetings to all😊

The first piece I heard from RVW was Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. I was out of school, and I was searching through YT. Eventually, I saw this piece. Knowing that it lasted 15 minutes, I decided to listen to it-little did I know how glorious the first note would be. Thank you for this list!! PS: Now I’m performing his folk song suite in the district honor band, I love playing it so much!

It’s wonderful and deeply gratifying to see RVWs glorious music fully appreciated outside the UK.

Speaking of vocals, The Serenade to Music is absolutely incredible.

I appreciate that you expanded my awareness of RVW's works. I have been particularly grateful for Job: A Masque for Dancing. Love it!

Mildred: "He's talking to that computer again..."

I first got to know RVW in high school, singing his brilliant arrangements of Rosetti's "Rest" and Whitman's "Roots and Leaves." Then, my freshman year in college I was fortunate to nab one of the solos in "Serenade to Music." At that point I was hooked, and immediately got the 1st Symphony (A Sea Symphony). I met the Tallis Fantasia and the Lark Ascending at the same time. After college I was fortunate to perform both Dona Nobis Pacem and Hodie. I remember trying to convince the conductor of the latter to do the Sea Symphony, but he wasn't a fan. He said that he thought audiences wouldn't go for RVW choral works every season... I rather like the oboe concerto and his works for solo piano, but I am still discovering his songs for solo singers. Just a week or so ago I finally got to hear "Four Last Songs" and fell instantly in love with them. The man had a genius for textures and layers -even in very simple pieces.

I’d love one of these videos for Martinu, there’s just so much stuff and I love so much of it.

Such an amazing composer. Crazily enough, I first heard his music in an actual live performance, "Pilgrim's Progress" at Brigham Young University back in 1969, when most of my musical interest was psychedelic rock. After seving in the Army and getting interested in classical music, borrowed the Boult "Pastoral" from the library and was hooked. In the early 80s, thrilled to dee the Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra perform his 5th Symphony. Bliss! A shame RVW is so seldom programmed...😢

Thanks David and Mildred for this video on Vaughan Williams for beginners. I first discovered RVW via a talk back show in Australia in the 1980's. The presenter, John Tingle played the opening piece from the Wasps and I was hooked ! John would say his boss at the radio station would not be pleased with him playing classical music, however I have him to thank for an incredible journey to this day. I was even a member of the Vaughan Williams Society for a number of years. I agree with all the pieces you mention, however The Lark Ascending hasn't been overplayed here, in fact for me, it is rather special, especially when listening to it on the top of a mountain in the Australian Outback at sunset. There is nothing better ! My only criticism of the piece is that the first half of it, slightly overshadows the 2nd half. For beginners, I might also include The Wasps written for the play, The Aristophanes, and the tone poem: In the Fen Country. I thoroughly agree with you including Symphony No. 2, A London Symphony, however the second movement has me way out of the city in a very peaceful though almost spiritual setting. Mildred looks like very thoughtful and bright puss !

Very canny, nuanced choice as an introduction to VW's wonderful ouvere (I particularly like the fact you included the 3rd, it's quiet, often ominous, and restless quality offers something unique in his output - VW's quiet war requiem?).

OK, since we're enjoined from mentioning any other RVW works, I promise I won't mention the symphony that Arthur Benjamin, Walton, and Bax all thought was the greatest symphony since Beethoven, and the one that ends with a bang instead of a whimper, the 4th symphony. Even though it's the one that starts playing in my head when I think of his symphonies, I promise I won't bring it up.

I take it that Mildred's role is to let you do the heavy lifting, and she will give you her notes after. I appreciate that you are not condescending towards the Tallis Fantasia. I think it transcends anyone's objections to "souped-up" ancient music. On the other hand it has always surprised me is that RVW's Fantasia on Greensleeves turns out to be sort of a snooze.

Mildred as absolutely stolen my heart 😊 Sad you left out the Tuba Concerto 😢

Hi Dave, I could not agree with you more. RVW rocks! Love his music. The oboe concerto is a ‘hidden gem’. HOWEVER… 2nd to Sir Arthur Sullivan? I think not. 2nd to Benjamin Britten perhaps… love your work. Gregg in Australia.

A big reason for the neglect of Vaughan Williams outside Britain, I think, is that most of the leading conductors of his time and later programmed his music rarely if ever. The only exceptions I can think of are Previn, Slatkin and (forgettably) Haitink. Imagine what a Bernstein "Job" would have sounded like - and done for wider recognition of RVW.

I asked myself the question - why doesn't my hometown, big-city orchestra ever play Vaughan Williams? The only answer I could come up with was "economics". They are petrified VW won't sell enough tickets. So, we'll get another "Ein Heldenleben" instead.

Whoops! Arthur Sullivan greater than Elgar? Well, since every thing spoken is point of view, I can live with it.

I am German and have been a RVW afficionado for more than 30 years. I fell in love with his music before I fell in love with my wife. It's a pity that his music is so seldom performed here in Germany. Andrew Manze did a lot Vaughan Williams in Hannover some years ago as did Roger Norrington in Stuttgart when being chief conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. RVW's music really enriches your life. I don't want to miss it.

I recently purchased his Sinfonia Antarctica by Hyperion Records. Sat down and listened to it one night in the midst of a cold dark night. Truly spectacular!

You can never listen to enough RVW.

Vaughan Williams rules, as does Mildred.

Am I mistaken, or have the commentaries actually improved since Mildred became executive cat?

For me, the Sinfonia Antartica is Vaughan-Williams' Alpine Symphony.

A joke for old timers, Dave. Vaughan-Williams also wrote music for a friend who drove his STUDEBAKER off a cliff. He called it "THE LARK DESCENDING" !!!! They don't get any better... Thanks, Dave...

Got the 30 disc Vaughan-Williams box for Christmas. What a joy.

Although I live in Oregon, I’ve been a member of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society for many years, and hearing your praise for his magnificent music never fails to delight me. Cheers, good sir!

I've recently discovered Vaughan Williams and I'm a bit embarrassed to say that. I don't know why I didn't spend time with him before. Perhaps it has to do with the lack of public performances of his work, which is a real shame as he is a superb composer. Thanks for the list of recommendations.

I have discovered RVW only because of your channel and I am very grateful to you for this. He is really major 20th century composer kept in secret and I just don't know why

Sullivan? I wasn’t expecting that 😮. Thanks for your continued championing of Dr Vaughan Williams. My personal favourite piece is An Oxford Elegy which I heard on Radio 3 when I was starting listening to classical music as a teenager in the 80s. I saved up my pocket money for weeks so that I could afford to go up to London and buy the box set of his choral music as that was the only way to get a recording of it at that time. The expensive box was money well spent. I nearly wore the records out.

Love RVW - we're lucky to live near to Wenlock Edge, it's as gorgeous as the music describes. My first intro to him was the Greensleeves and Tallis Fantasia, then later as a church chorister we did a lot of Vaughan Williams. He has the ability to make you laugh and cry - I love the 'Ave A Banana in the London Symphony! Thank you so much for this appreciation :)

Dave, I am delighted that VW enjoys such esteem in your largely non-British community. He is certainly a very great composer and I rate him above Elgar for his greater range and diversity and lesser pomposity. Putting Sullivan to one side, am I allowed to claim Handel as a largely English composer? If so, I would rate him clearly the greatest. The 20th century has been quite a rich one for English (?British) music. As well as VW and Elgar, Britten, Delius and Tippett are major voices and there is lovely music from the likes of Holst, Bax, Finzi, and Moeran, to which I would now add Arnold and Lloyd thanks to your having drawn my attention to them.

You really put the 3rd symphony on the map for me when you called it "big." Despite its pastoral beauty, the gentleness, the great calm that he creates throughout the piece, it's that "massive power" underlying everything that I always hear and am almost unconsciously aware of. So to have you actually express that today was very satisfying, giving me a better, more conscious understanding of what I've been hearing all these years.

My favorite joke at the expense of the English pastoralists is Glenn Gould’s written quip that “Britannia waives the rules.” That joke got me resistant to them fifteen years ago, but by now I’ve listened to the standard Delius and Elgar and am loving hearing RVW’s symphony cycle for the first time now. What a great school and wonderful contribution to music! Thanks again for the videos, Dave! -Charles

Now you have whetted our appetite, Dave, will you review the recordings and suggest which is the best?

Fantastic to see this put together! Now if you could could do Joaquin Rodrigo. He's far more that just Aranjuez, or Aranjuez and one or two compositions it is teamed up with on a CD. Among many, his conciertos heroica (for piano) and serenata (for harp) are exquisite.

Dave I loved your advocacy of RVW. The first piece of music I played on the air ( in which you hired me at the WJHU) was the 3rd (Pastoral) Symphony.

My favorite as well. First thing I heard was also the Third Symphony many years ago on NPR. Hooked ever since.

You didn't include the Tuba Concerto? LOL!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Thank you for this. Any recommendations of performances?

On the contrary, I think Mildred LOVES The Lark Ascending. Or at least the lark. In her bowl.

His symphony number six (first movement) was one of my set works for O level music in 1978/9. I loved that piece and have loved his work ever since. Actually , we had some great pieces to study that year- we also studied Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and Beethoven’s fifth (first movement). The last one surprised me because as a kid I always hummed it as triplet quavers at the start and it was only when I saw the score I realised that they were straight and picked up on the second half of the third beat. Well, you live and learn😊. As a side note- I’m not keen on Beethoven, I’m ashamed to say…

RVW's arrangements of English folk tunes are right up there with Britten's. Well worth seeking out an old recording by Robert Tear which has made me weep and laugh for 40 years. It's hard to get beyond the biography written by his wife Ursula, but a friend (the daughter of RWV's music editor at the OUP) who knew him in her youth, remembers him as a kind chap with a twinkle in his eye. I always prefer my musical favourites to be decent people 😊

Dave, is Finster named after Howard Finster, or the character in “Usual Suspects,” or neither?

1. Not an easy selection to make due to both the abundance and quality of RVW's oeuvre, but I concur. 2. Which version of the Second Symphony or both? Before her death earlier in this century, RVW's widow Ursula gave Richard Hickox permission to re-premiere the original longer (unofficial) version. As for as I'm concerned, the more music there is of RVW in a particular piece, the better. 3. If these seven works are the beginner's essentials, then I say the mature listener's essentials would include his symphonies' 4, 5 & 6 that are without any specific program, but each in their own way arriving at formal perfection.